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Canberra Bookbinding Conference, 2017

Books From The National Library

Two of us recently attended the Bookbinding Conference in Canberra. This was a very good event and one that attracted an excellent group of speakers, both from Canberra and internationally. It was attended by approximately 90 - 100 enthusiastic amateur and professional binders, and was accompanied by a number of opportunities for everyone to mix and meet.

The event was held over two days, Saturday and Sunday, with 7 speakers and demonstrations on Saturday and a further 8 on Sunday. The local speakers included Terence Uren on making lidded containers, Rosemarie Jeffers-Palmer on Lacunose technique and Vicki Wooley on Surface Design, whilst the international guests were represented by David Lanning on manufacturing leather for bookbinding, Michael Burke on the Cambridge Panel Binding, Suzanne Schmollgruber on French leather laced in techniques, miniature books by Stephen Byrne, Creative Gold tooling by the one and only Dominic Riley and Magdalena Koziak-Podsiadlo on Polish bindings.

There were also other speakers, and plenty of demonstrations. There were also ample opportunities to purchase tools, materials and books from a number of manufacturers and representatives. Although too many to list, special mention should be made of Cali Andersen of Andersen Bookbinding.

Likewise the members of the Canberra Guild were all extremely helpful, and Wendy and Bob Talyor went out of their way to make me welcome, ferrying me everywhere as well as ensuring that I saw some of the best of Canberra.